Technology and Physical Activity

Technology has provided hundreds of millions of people with entertainment as well as making daily living tasks much easier than they were decades ago. Technology has allowed for much easier and convenient communication between everyone in the world. Computers, cell-phones, ipads, video games, etc. have many positives and negatives to each. Personally, I believe that technology has made people much lazier over the years. People let technology do a lot of the simple work for them rather than doing it themselves.

I never really picked up on playing video games all the time when I was younger. My brothers played them all of the time. Yes, they are fun to play once in a while, however I would much rather be playing a game outdoors, such as basketball or soccer, with my friends rather than playing with them on a video game in a room. All my life when I was younger, my parents urged me to go outside and play instead of playing video games and I thank them for it. I think my parents influence is part of what gave me a respect for physical activity and part of the reason why I value my physical activity experiences so much. I am going to try to have the same effect on my future physical education students that my parents had on me.

Video games have had a huge impact on the physical activity level of many younger children. Many children spend their free time playing video games instead of getting out of their house and playing games and interacting with their friends. I think this is horrible, especially with the rise in the amount of children becoming obese. As Physical Education teachers, we are able to teach our students about the effects of leading a sedentary lifestyles and what can happen if they do not participate in physical activity on a regular basis.

There is a way that, as a physical educator, we can use the technology, such as the video games that the students like, in a constructive manner. There are games such as DDR (dance-dance-revolution) and the Wii fit games that, if affordable for school districts, we can use in class to get our students active and show them that there are some video games that have a physical activity benefit to them. By bringing the technology into the classroom, it provides teachers with a way to relate to their students better and this method may have a more positive effect on their students. This method relates to the New York State Learning standard 3 because the teacher is providing students with outside resources and opportunities that students can utilize to continue being active outside of just the classroom.

There is no way that technology is ever going to disappear and the possible negative effects that can come from it can effect anyone. Accepting it and knowing how to use it to your advantage is a great skill for a teacher to have because there are going to be some things that you are not going to be able to change and being able to handle them positively is essential.